The Mother
by potterfanxp123
Summary: Coming from the hospital after New Krypton, Lois gets the surprise of her life.


The Mother: A Superman Mythos one-shot

By: William F. (potterfanxp123)

"Ms. Lane," the silver-haired old woman spoke stopping the woman's stride, her aged voice holding a timber that Lois had never heard. She wasn't the most extraordinary of women, nor did she stand out in a crowd, even going so far as to stand in the very back of everyone, as to not draw attention. Ordinarily, Lois would have ignored her, as she had all the voices that erupted once she'd gotten out of the building that housed her son's father, but the fear in the woman's eyes drew her in.

Lois, now free of the masses that had turned their attention back to the hospital awaiting any word, any sign of hope that the world's strongest would soon awaken, stopped.

"We've never met," the woman said unnecessarily, hesitantly, "But I've heard many things about you. Ordinarily," she paused as Lois invited the woman to walk with her. "Ordinarily I'd never have drawn your attention, or bothered you at this difficult time… but I need to know."

"Know what?" Lois asked, her stomach clenching, sure of what the woman's next words would be.

"I need to know how my son is," the woman said softly. Lois's eyes narrowed and she swept her gaze over the woman, who was looking at Jason reverently. "He looks like his father did at that age."

"I'm not sure what you mean," Lois said, regretting inviting this woman along, wondering why her instincts would so unilaterally declare this woman safe. She should have known, should have realized, that someone would do this.

"I know that you don't believe me," the woman said. "I know that I wouldn't in your position. So," she took a deep breath, "I'm going to give you _carte blanche_. Ask me anything that you know about my son, that the public doesn't."

That stopped Lois in her tracks. Was the woman serious? Did she seriously expect to be able to answer any of the multitudes of questions that Lois herself had never revealed to the public? Really? Still, if only to play along, Lois did.

"What was Superman's birth name?"

The woman smiled, _**smiled**_! Then softly, she leaned closer, "Kal-El."

Her heart started thumping wildly in her chest, but her calm, indecisive mind knew the next question almost immediately. She looked at the woman, whose eyes were sunken and dulled with worry.

Hurriedly, her mind thought up another piece of useless trivia that she'd never bothered reporting, and looked at the woman. "When did he first learn he could fly?"

The woman laughed, her laughter coming out like a birds' song, before she answered, "He was fifteen, and just learned that he could jump really high. He was enjoying himself, when his foot caught on a loose tile, and he flipped through the air, before going through our barn's roof, and just before he hit the ground, he stopped."

Lois' heart thumped in her chest. Disbelief stained her face, as she looked at the woman, who was now watching Jason with awe etched onto her worn face.

"He really does look like his father did at that age," she said again. If only to shut the woman up, Lois said, "Really?"

The woman's smile lit, as they approached her and Richard's car. The woman nodded, and pulled out a school photo of a boy that looked eerily like her son, same facial structure, same eye color, and same grin. She turned the picture over, to see if the woman had written anything on the back, but was shocked to discover that it was white-out, except for the date, 1984.

"Lois," Richard said as he got out of the car, his eyes piercing between Lois and the woman at her side. "Who is this?"

"She claims to be Superman's mother," Lois told her fiancé, not wanting to give in that the woman had nearly proven her claims true.

"Really," Richard asked. "Can I ask a question?"

The woman nodded.

"When did he learn he had X-Ray vision?"

The woman blushed. "He…" she paused and looked at Jason, then gave a glance at Lois, who immediately covered her son's ears.

"He was at school one morning, gym class, when he suddenly got a headache. The gymnasium was beside the girls' locker room, and he was staring at the wall, when he said that it just disappeared. He," she blushed again, "He said that a couple of the girls were showering. That," she said, "Is also when he discovered his Heat vision."

And like that, another piece of Lois' wall crumbled. She looked at Richard, who was looking at the woman with amusement etched on his face, he didn't believe her.

Still, there was something that Superman told her that he swore he'd only shared with one other person before, and she knew that if she didn't ask this question, she'd never believe her.

"Who did he take on his first flight?"

"You," the woman said softly, "It was just after he opened himself to the world, after his training. He arrived on your rooftop for that interview your chief called, "I spent the night with Superman". You asked him how fast he flew, and he claimed to never have timed himself. So he offered to take you, so you could… neither of you actually time his flight speed though."

And like that, her wall was down. She could feel Richard's penetrating gaze, could feel the hurt in it, as she nodded and said, "You're his mother."

"Yes," the woman said, "Please, how is my son?"

"He's still in a coma, but the doctors have him under a lot of sun lamps, and he's been placed in one of the eastern rooms so that the first lights of the day will shine in," Lois said softly to the woman as she asked if the woman needed a ride. The woman smiled softly and thanked her before sliding into the back seat beside Jason with a muttered, "Thank you."

"We're going to the Daily Planet," Richard said softly to the woman, "Do you want to come with us, meet everyone, or do you have somewhere you'd like to go,"

She gave them a soft look, and said, "I'm sure I can find something to do with my time whilst you two work. Out of curiosity, what are you going to tell everyone about Kal-El?"

Richard frowned, looking at Lois. She sighed, "That's Superman's birth name."

"Perry will want to know that they let you in to see him, Lois. He'll also probably want a small article on what the doctor is doing to save him, and whether you think it will be enough."

"It will," the old woman said softly, "This isn't the first case of Kryptonite poisoning my son has had, but it's been a long time since it's been this severe."

"Severe," Lois asked. The woman sighed. "The first time he was exposed, he was incapacitated for days. He lost all of his powers for about a week, and in that time contracted a case of the flu that almost killed him. The second time, he was exposed for about five minutes by about a dozen pieces, at night. He went into a healing coma that lasted all of two days."

"So depending on the severity of the exposure," Lois said before her eyes widened… "But it was an entire island made of that stuff!"

"Yes," the woman said, "And he knew that, and he knew the risks involved. And he chose to ignore them."

Richard sighed as they pulled beside of a large, open building. It was still under repairs, as evident by the humongous globe that sat upon a crushed car. The woman sighed at seeing it, muttering about hare-brained children.

"Can…" Richard said before he frowned looking at the woman softly, "Can you tell us how… how persistent his powers were growing up?"

The woman looked at him, then at Jason, and smiled softly. Lois's eyes widened and she said, "Richard?"

"I saw the piano, Lois," the man said softly to her. "I…"

"Piano," the woman asked?

"When we were aboard Luthor's boat," Lois said, "I sent a fax to Richard, asking for help. Luthor had just sent a crystal infused with Kryptonite into the water, and so the entire fax didn't go out, but one of his goons saw me, and was about to kill me. Jason," she looked at her son in the rearview, "Jason pushed the piano into the man, and I think…"

The woman sighed, "Did you tell my son about what happened?"

She shook her head. "It was the first time… I honestly thought…" she said looking in the mirror at her sleeping son.

"I know," Richard told her unnecessarily, "We were together for three months before you even got morning sickness."

"He was always strong," the woman answered their question softly. "Within minutes of us finding him, he stopped my husband's truck from falling on him. His other powers came as he aged. His speed came when he was about seven. I'm guessing that was the first time Jason showed any signs of being different?"

"He's always been sick," Lois said softly, "fragile. He had acute asthma until last week, couldn't go a day without needing his inhaler. Ever since he was exposed to Kryptonite, though…"

"That bastard exposed him to Kryptonite?" the woman cursed.

"He looked at Jason, he'd started having an attack when Luthor brought the Kryptonite out, and wouldn't stop looking at it."

"It's possible the Kryptonite jumpstarted his abilities. The radiation from the Kryptonite works in the same way as the radiation from the sunlight. It just… causes his powers to fritz. Because Jason is so young and only part Kryptonian, it's possible that his body just needed a jumpstart."

By now they were entering the newsroom, and Lois was looking around. She knew that the woman needed to talk to someone she could trust, and at the moment, there was only one person she knew wouldn't take advantage of her to get the story of a lifetime.

"Where's Clark," she asked underneath her breath?

"Ma'am," Lois asked, belatedly wondering if she even dared ask the woman's name, "If you'd like to take a seat, my friend is out at the moment, but his desk is available if you want to sit there. I just need to speak with Perry really quickly, and then I'd like to take you out for coffee, so we can get to know each other better. If anyone asks, tell them that you're Clark Kent's mother, and that you've just been worried about him."

She nodded and said, "Martha Kent… I like the sound of that."

Lois absently nodded, before saying, "Well Martha, it's good to meet you. Lois Lane, this is my son, Jason, and my fiancé Richard White."

The older woman's hand gingerly wrapped around hers, and she smiled softly as she sat in the too big chair, before looking around and nitpicking, just like a mother would do over their son's space. She had to give it to the woman; she played the role to perfection.

She never noticed that Jason disappeared.

"Hi," the soft voice drew Martha's attention, drawing her immediately too the sight of the young boy she'd shared a car with only moments before. A soft breath released itself from her lungs, and she said, "Hello."

"Are you Superman's mommy?"

She nodded softly at the boy's quiet question, and said, "I am."

"Does that mean you're Mister Clark's mommy too?"

A chuckle came from the woman then, and she said, "Yes, it does Jason."

The little boy said, "Why can't grown-ups see that?"

"Because Clark is very good at what he does," she answered the boy truthfully, as Jason sat down and pulled a draw open. It didn't surprise her that the draw was filled with coloring books, and crayons, at all. Her son would have fallen in love with the boy even if he didn't know that Jason was his son, all because of who his mother was.

"Does Clark often let you use his desk?" Martha asked her grandson, softly wiping her fingers through his hair. The boy nodded absently, and said, "He's nice. I like him."

"I like him too," Martha said softly to him.

"Jason," Lois said softly looking around the newsroom as she exaggeratedly said, "Are you bothering Mrs. Kent?"

He shook his head, "No, just asking her about stuff."

The woman sighed softly, "It's alright Lois, I know it's been a long time since I've babysat, but I'd be more than happy to watch him, if you'd like."

Lois hesitated for only a second, before her eyes widened and she hesitantly stated, "You're his…" before she paused and stopped, before offering the woman a hand and saying, "Let's go get that coffee."

The elevator ride to the main lobby was excruciatingly long, and even longer was the cab ride back to her and Richard's Riverside Drive home. She daren't talk to Superman's mother during either, afraid of someone, anyone, overhearing. Luckily, even with all the damage to the city, they arrived to her home relatively quickly. After getting the brewer started, Lois pulled out a baking sheet, and said, "I'm afraid the extent of my homemaking skills are PB and J related, so Richard does all of our cooking. But," she said softly, "I can heat up something if you're hungry, Ma'am."

Martha smiled and said, "I'd like that. I've been too nervous to eat."

Lois nodded, and a few minutes later was sitting the last of their frozen lasagna between them.

"I have a few more questions," Lois said softly as Martha slowly eat. The woman nodded, "I assumed you would."

Lois paused, "Why? Why did he leave?"

Martha paused, remembering those final, hectic days before his departure to a dead world.

"What do you… remember… about those times Lois?"

She sighed, "I remember the ice palace," she said softly, "The fight with Zod, Ursa and Non. I remember that I was on assignment at one point, but not what happened to my partner, or why we'd split up. I do know that the article almost won us the Pulitzer, but I remember wondering why Clark didn't get mad that I had ditched him."

"Just after the events with the General, my son was lethargic. He had given up his powers only days before Zod arrived, and committed to being with you. But…" Martha hesitated, "But when reports of Zod's arrival came in, indicating both that Zod was hurting people, and showing Kryptonian-like powers, my son did what he had too. He had his powers restored. But," she said, "The process had some drawbacks.

She looked at Martha, her mind racking with the possibilities, wondering what Superman could have done to make her so angry.

"My son had told you everything about himself," Martha said softly, "Things that you don't remember now, because he had told them when he'd thought he was going to give his powers up permanently. But," she said softly, "But the change could only happen once. He was only once able to give up his powers, and regain them. If he gives them up again, willingly or not," she said softly, "It will be a permanent change."

"He told me who he was," Lois asked? Martha sighed but nodded, "And then he took that knowledge. He claimed that it was because it was hurting you not to be able to show him affection after the time you'd been together, but I'm not so sure."

"You think he regretted what happened?"

"No," Martha said assuredly, "No. He regrets nothing about that time. But," she said softly, "He does regret that he cannot in good conscious commit to you in the way he so desires, the way he thinks you deserve, and so I think in a way it was easier on him if you didn't remember."

Lois frowned. "Why aren't I angry?"

Martha sighed, "Because, even though he suppressed the conscious knowledge, he didn't completely erase it. He wouldn't. He knew that if you ever remembered, even slightly, that you wouldn't feel betrayed or think he didn't trust him. But he also knew that if you were completely unaware, and the knowledge were to somehow _unspool_, that you'd hate him, I'm not sure how it works, to be honest…," before shrugging, unsure of how to completely explain the situation.

"And you," Lois asked hesitantly? Martha sighed.

"I told him that I was going to speak with you," she said softly. "I'm dying, maybe months if I'm lucky, and when he told me that he'd fathered a child I told him that I would not let him isolate himself when he had such responsibilities. When I heard that he'd did something so completely idiotic… you do realize that lifting that monstrosity could have tore him apart cell-by-cell?"

Lois nodded, but urged the woman to continue.

"When he did, I realized he'd almost died, that this was the moment I'd been waiting for."

"How did he know… I just told him?" Lois asked softly.

"How does any father or mother know their child," she said softly.

"He met Jason," Lois said, "And he knew. But when did he have the chance to meet Jason?"

"Lois," the woman smiled softly, "When you ask him if you'll see him around, what is his answer?"

"He's always around," Lois answered immediately. And for the first time, she realized that Superman was also someone she saw every day.

"Who is he?" she asked the woman. Martha smiled softly and said, "You already know the answer to that, Lois."

Lois looked at the woman softly, and then looked at her sleeping son. She never remembered seeing that look of concentration on her son's face before, but she had seen it before. Her eyes widened, and she looked at her and with a whispered, "Clark?" she almost cried when the woman said, "I told you I liked the sound of that."

"Are you serious?"

The woman nodded, and reached into her purse, which the woman had been carrying reverently the entire time, never letting the bag out of her side. Silently, almost reverently, the woman pulled the zipper open, and withdrew a blue blanket embroiled with the crest of the house of El.

"This was around him when Clark first came to us. It's made of fiber that isn't found anywhere on earth, so in good conscious, I refused to use it as part of his uniform. I know," the woman said softly, "I know that I couldn't have used it for any type of proof, but I was hoping that you'd give it to him the next time he came by."

"Why don't you?"

Martha smiled, "Clark has always been headstrong, Lois. He doesn't like showing Superman as being vulnerable, and he can't stand the thought of someone, anyone that he loves being in danger. An old woman arriving with something obviously alien would draw unnecessary attention to him. Lois Lane, on the other hand, arriving with that same object would be seen as par for the course. You could tell them it was a gift from Superman too your son, as a way of support. I can tell you," the woman said, "That the material is flexible, never needs to be washed, and once wrapped in it, heat nor cold will bother whomever is wrapped in it. I've even used it on nights when the power is out, and I don't have any wood for the fire, and it stretches to cover me."

Lois took the material, and softly placed it over Jason's now sleeping form. As soon as the material touched her son, to her surprise, it conformed to him perfectly.

"What?"

"It did the same with Clark," she told her, "But it will release its hold when you go to take it off of him. Kryptonian-made Material was created to respond to the touch of someone with their genes."

Lois touched the material, and wasn't surprised when it loosened itself from her son. She gasped.

"Thank you Martha," she told the woman reverently, "I'll always appreciate you've done this."

The old woman smiled softly, and said, "I appreciate that you've let me spend this time with my grandson, Lois."

Lois nodded. She had one more question that she needed to ask.

"What will Clark do now that he doesn't have access to the Fortress?"

To Lois' surprise, the old woman leaned backwards and said, "He isn't without the Fortress. When it was first built, the Fortress was grown much in the same way Luthor made that monstrosity. The crystal in question was programmed to teach the son of Jor-El everything he needed to know about his powers, and about his heritage. But," she said, "the Fortress is but an extension of that Crystal. If Luthor had taken all of them, then the Fortress would have collapsed before he had the ability to leave it.

Because he did not take the Father Crystal," the woman said softly, "Clark can remove it, and move the Fortress to a new location. Personally, I think he's going to head towards Mars, or even Venus to make sure this can't happen again. Once he's demolished the Fortress, from what I understand of Kryptonian physics, all other things grown from that Fortress will be destroyed by their programming."

"Will the explosion hurt the earth?"

Martha shrugged, "I don't know, but since Luthor infused the crystal with the Kryptonite, I think Clark will be safer if it's demolished that way."

Lois sighed, looking to the television that had quietly been running in the background.

"He's out," she said softly. Martha looked at the screen, and said, "Yes, and he's probably already on his way here. I'll have to have a word with that boy about leaving against medical advice…"

"Martha," she asked delicately, "Will Clark be able to pay the hospital?"

Martha looked at her, her laughter shaking their roof, as the door opened and Richard came in.

"Ma'am," he said softly, "Superman is outside. I think he wants to speak with you."

Martha sighed and said, "May I invite him in?"

Richard and Lois exchanged looks for a half second, before nodding in unison.

Superman came in sheepishly looking at his mom, and said, "Hello ma."

"Clark Jerome Kent," the woman said scathingly, "What are you doing leaving the hospital?"

Superman blanched, and said, "I… I left a note thanking them and letting them that I would bring by some money soon, Ma."

"Clark Kent," Richard said, eyes wide… before he looked at the man, and too Lois. "You knew?"

"Not until Mrs. Kent told me," Lois whispered, "Needless to say, this is all off record."

Richard rolled his eyes, and said, "OF course."

Superman walked towards them and said, "Thank you both for your help. If not for your return, I would have died underneath that. If there is any way I can repay you please let me know."

Lois smiled, and looked at Richard, before saying, "We'd do it again, Clark."

_End_


End file.
